Publisher: Decadent Publishing
Series: The Challenge Series, Always A Marine #10
Format Read: PDF
Source: From Full Moon Bites Promos for an honest review
Release Date: January 8, 2013
Buying Links: Amazon Barnes & Noble ARe Decadent Publishing
Blurb from goodreads:
For single mom and
widow Melody Carter, six months passed since an IED ripped her life
apart. Everyone is sympathetic and offers platitudes of comfort and
support. Everyone thinks they know why she’s grieving but Melody isn’t
mourning her broken heart. She’s ashamed to be grateful her abusive
husband won’t hurt her anymore and scared for her child. Born with a
mild heart defect, her daughter needs lifesaving surgery and with her
funds tight and her emotional scars tighter, she’s running out of
options. When she receives an offer for assistance from Mike’s Place,
can Melody put her faith in the men her husband called friend?
Have you ever woken up, day after day, to discover your body’s betrayal?
Marine
Captain, Joe Anderson Cooper, received the Silver Star for Valor when
he led his unit through heavy fire to rescue fellow Marines. Despite
numerous injuries, the Captain refused medical aid, insisting that the
medics attend others. A broken back and shattered bones put Captain
Cooper in a wheelchair and every day is a battle to keep his recovery on
track and his sanity intact. When a single mom moves in to the
apartment next door to his and he recognizes a kindred—damaged—soul, can
he overcome her fear and be the man she’s always needed?
Can these two lonely souls rise to the challenge or will their scars trap them forever?
Bea's Thoughts:
I've been wanting to read Heather Long for a while now so when the opportunity to review this came up I jumped at it. When I received the PDF, I had it converted for my kindle and in the process discovered that I had apparently downloaded for free a Christmas story she wrote in the Always a Marine series. I read it then this one and decided that I like her writing style and that she needs a better copy editor. For such short stories, there was a high level of mistakes. Additionally, the hero in this book has an ever changing surname.
When Joe meets Melody, he introduces himself as Joe Cooper, Captain Joe Cooper, and several times refers to himself in his thoughts as Coop. Then, later, when he and Melody are on the hospital shuttle, he is called Captain Anderson several times. Towards the end of the book he is suddenly Joe Cooper Anderson. It was confusing and annoying. The other problems were incorrect grammar and punctuation, and typos. I can understand a few that are missed but for the length of the piece, there were too many.
Now, the story; I liked it. It's a sweet and romantic story with a happy ending. Long does an excellent job showing us Melody's fear of men, of anyone really, and the lingering effects of abuse. Melody is a devoted mother, and a terrified mother. Her daughter's
health is failing and the surgery may not work. After years of abuse,
she's scared to reach out to others and she's been isolated from her
family. She's relieved that her husband is dead and feels like a fraud
for accepting help for her daughter. I did think she recovered a bit too quickly but recovery is so individual that's it not impossible for it to happen so fast. I'd have liked to see some mention towards the end of whether or not she had reconnected with her family but that's a nitpick. :)
Joe is practically perfect, as Melody herself says several times: patient, understanding, always willing to help, never pushes her, etc. But Long also shows us his thoughts so we know that it's not always easy for him and he sometimes has to make an effort to control himself and of course, we see his bitterness over his injuries. Despite his near perfection, he feels real, and so does his family. His mother is overbearing, a pushy broad as my dad would say, but wonderful.
Events moved a little too fast for my own preferences, especially towards the end, but "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" is a wonderful love story of hope and faith. Joe and Melody are people I'd like to have as friends.
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Also be sure to check out the rest of the Always a
Marine series!
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Excerpt
Letting
herself out of the apartment, she locked up and turned to find her neighbor
locking his door. He caught sight of her and smiled. “Good morning.” His deep
baritone hummed over her senses. She appreciated the low voiced greeting.
“Good
morning.” She wanted to say something more, but her brain locked up around the
words. He eased his wheelchair back until nearly off the sidewalk and motioned
for her to precede him. Biting her lip, she found another smile for him. “Thank
you.” Her heartbeat accelerated and sweat cooled her spine. She didn’t hug the
wall, but she couldn’t help widening the distance between them.
The wheels
made the faintest squeaking noise after she passed, and she glanced back to see
him following her down the path toward the parking lot. Maybe she should have
offered to push. He wore an olive green t-shirt and a matching pair of slacks,
though they were cut up the side of the large cast encasing his right leg from
mid-thigh to his toes.
He—Joe, he
said his name was Joe—met her gaze and gave her another easy smile. His eyes
crinkled at the corners and the dimple in his cheek deepened. The sidewalk
widened and she slowed to let him catch up.
“I’m sorry.
I’m not the best company this morning.”
“No worries,
ma’am. Little ones take a lot out of a body.” The buttery softness of his voice
washed over her like a soothing balm—like the night before when he knocked on
her door and introduced himself. He scared the hell out of her, but not in the
same breath.
I must be
tired. I have no idea what I’m feeling from one moment to the next. As if summoned by her thought,
fatigue wavered through her and she stumbled. The diaper bag swung down her
arm. She couldn’t catch it and hold the baby at the same time. Joe stopped the
bag’s arc, and gave her a chance to catch her balance.
“May I?” He
offered, still holding the bag.
May he what…? He wanted to carry the bag for
her and she winced. It was heavy and he…
“I have
plenty of room and then you don’t have to worry about it taking you off balance
again.” The sound logic quashed her natural objections. She shifted Libby
carefully and let the strap fall off her arm. Her internal alarms sounded.
Giving him the bag didn’t give him some kind of power over her, but her gut
tightened at the surrender of her possession.
He settled
the bag against his lap and nodded encouragingly. “Just point me to your car…”
“Oh, I don’t
drive. Well, I do but I’m not driving here. I’m actually just staying here for
a few weeks and I’m waiting for the shuttle.” She tacked the last on with a
grimace. “And apparently I’m as muddleheaded for real as I feel. Sorry. Thank
you. The shuttle is scheduled to pick us up here in about…” She couldn’t look
at her watch.
“Two
minutes.” The captain supplied. “I’m waiting for the same shuttle.” His warm
brown gaze turned studious. “Are you okay?”
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About Heather ~
Heather Long
lives in Texas with her family and their menagerie of animals. As a child,
Heather skipped picture books and enjoyed the Harlequin romance novels by Penny
Jordan and Nora Roberts that her grandmother read to her. Heather believes that
laughter is as important to life as breathing and that the Easter Bunny, the
Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus are very real. In the meanwhile, she is hard at
work on her next novel.
Find Heather online:
Decadent Publishing
For more information about Decadent
Publishing authors, books, and their submissions guidelines, visit www.decadentpublishing.com.
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There's a tour wide giveaway for 2 Ebook copies of a backlist book in the Always a Marine series by Heather Long (winners choice).
Follow the tour
Ends 04/30/2013
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